( Manheim, Pa) “The National Wrestling Coaches Association is pleased to announce that Jason Bryant has been hired to take over operations of the InterMat web site. Bryant succeeds Tom Owens as the webmaster after Owens ran the site from 1995-2005.
A Poquoson, Va., native, Bryant has successfully operated his own web site in Virginia, Mat Talk On-Line since 1997, and has worked dozens of national wrestling events, including four NCAA wrestling championships, seven Cadet & Junior National championships and the 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling.
Formerly the wrestling beat writer for the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press newspaper as well as a copy editor and page designer, Bryant completed his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Communications at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.
While at Old Dominion, Bryant was the Editor in Chief of the school’s student newspaper, The Mace & Crown, and was the Sports Director for the campus radio station, WODU. He also announced home wrestling matches and has announced the Virginia Duals and the Scholastic Duals as well as over 100 events on the high school and college level. He also announced the NCAA Field Hockey National Championships in 2000.
“It’s really a thrill for me to have an opportunity like this,” Bryant said. “I’ve always been focused on a career in writing and/or broadcasting, but to actually have the chance to cover wrestling at the national level is just a rush.”
“Jason Bryant is widely regarded as one of the top amateur wrestling writers in the nation,” said NWCA President Ron Beaschler. “He is incredibly thorough and ethical in his approach to promoting wrestling.”
Bryant wrestled at then nationally-ranked Poquoson High for coach Billy Ruff and graduated in 1997.
“I blame Coach Ruff for getting me interested in the sport,” Bryant said. “This is his fault.”
“There’s so many people I can attribute to having an impact on my love of the sport, they’ve all been supportive of my decision to leave Virginia. Now I guess I have to get some help for Mat Talk,” he said.
“Getting a chance to be the one behind InterMat is going to be challenging, because Tom Owens did such a great job in creating a wrestling-based media outlet and really pioneered internet web sites as a viable media outlet,” Bryant said.
“Jason will be a tremendous addition to the NWCA team,” said Mike Moyer, Executive Director of the NWCA. “His strong journalistic and broadcasting background along with his extreme dedication to the sport of wrestling made him an easy choice for us.”
Bryant starts full-time on June 1 and duties will include event coverage, in-depth feature stories and rankings in addition to the day-to-day operations of the web site.
Wrestling Gear
